Best Places In The World To Retire

Here in San Miguel de Allende, we basically only go out for lunch.  The average lunch for the two of us is around 500 pesos (US $25), which would be for a nice meal, for example, shrimp wrapped in bacon stuffed with cheese, some side dishes, and a glass of wine. At the café, here in Los Labradores (a planned community about 15 minutes from San Miguel de Allende) it costs 300 pesos (US $15) for the two of us, even with wine. I’ve tried some of the other restaurants...

Here in San Miguel de Allende, we basically only go out for lunch.  The average lunch for the two of us is around 500 pesos (US $25), which would be for a nice meal, for example, shrimp wrapped in bacon stuffed with cheese, some side dishes, and a glass of wine. At the café, here in Los Labradores (a planned community about 15 minutes from San Miguel de Allende) it costs 300 pesos (US $15) for the two of us, even with wine. I’ve tried some of the other restaurants around San Miguel de Allende, and I find that the costs are about the same.

 

We haven’t been to any of the really upscale restaurants in San Miguel de Allende yet. We usually meet friends in town and have main course, drinks, and dessert- this is our big meal of the day because we usually have light dinner.

 

(Suzie and Barry Osman at the cafe in Rancho Los Labradores, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)

 

Anybody can buy real estate here in Belize. I don’t believe there is any differentiation in this regard between being a Belizean citizen or a foreigner in any way when it comes to buying real estate. If the property is for sale, you can buy it.

 

I suppose the only difference might be who you know. A Belizean might know somebody who can get a better deal for you than you as the expat. And you have to bear in mind that there are slow, and there are high...

Anybody can buy real estate here in Belize. I don’t believe there is any differentiation in this regard between being a Belizean citizen or a foreigner in any way when it comes to buying real estate. If the property is for sale, you can buy it.

 

I suppose the only difference might be who you know. A Belizean might know somebody who can get a better deal for you than you as the expat. And you have to bear in mind that there are slow, and there are high seasons here. So with you being a gringo in Belize, they would love to try to charge you a bit more than they would charge a local, but they are all out to make money, I suppose. You just need to roll out your bargaining skills. During the slow season you have more chips than during the high season.

 

Your real estate agent should be somebody that you can look in the eye and feel comfortable with it. The best strategy is to stay in the place where you want to buy even just for a week and have a look around, walk about, but do not mention you are looking for real estate. Get to know people and ask questions such as, “If I were to buy here, what would it be like? I am not looking at the moment, but it’s a really nice town.” That way, people will give you their perception. Remember, there is the small island mentality here and everybody is out for a buck. Every restaurant, tour shop, and anything or anybody else that you refer somebody may get a small commission for referring you. It takes a little while to make true friends, but it is fun trying.

There are so many things to be happily surprised by when retiring abroad. It really is subject to the individual person. 

 

When you consider moving abroad, you're likely going to pick a place that you feel matches your personality. There's an interesting Facebook thing going around where you can answer a few questions and based on the personality questions you answered, the Facebook quiz picks the country that most closely fits your personality...

There are so many things to be happily surprised by when retiring abroad. It really is subject to the individual person. 

 

When you consider moving abroad, you're likely going to pick a place that you feel matches your personality. There's an interesting Facebook thing going around where you can answer a few questions and based on the personality questions you answered, the Facebook quiz picks the country that most closely fits your personality type. 

 

You can choose the country, the city, the kind of town, whether it's "hustle-and-bustle", the beach, or quiet mountain living. When you do the research to move abroad, you're picking a place that you think is going to make you happy. 

 

In my case, I moved to Antigua, Guatemala. It's a nice mix. There's a bunch of expats here and lots of great restaurants. The weather is always between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I've got children with asthma, so the weather and avoidance of cold weather was really an important criterion for me. 

 

You get to choose the kind of speed, climate, activity level, and type of people in the community. This is the number one advantage that I can think of being an expat. 

 

The second happy surprise is that, in most places in the world outside of the US, you're going to have a much more affordable lifestyle. This is a big concern, not only for retirees, but also for younger people who are building businesses and want a longer runway on the money that they have at their disposal to put towards their business while they're saving on living costs. The cost of living differential between the US and wherever you may be living is an important factor. 

 

Third is the change of pace. There may be a language and cultural difference. When you move abroad, you're exposed to things that are different, which are intellectually and emotionally stimulating.  

 

(Expats in Antigua, Guatemala, pictured.)

Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Nicaragua. About 15% of the doctors here can speak perfect English and a lot of Nicaraguans, in general, do speak English.

 

There wouldn’t be a problem in finding an English-speaking doctor or dentist here. If you go to the high quality doctor offices, usually, you will find English-speaking doctors. Overall, a lot of people in Nicaragua who are in the medical field do speak English.

 

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Yes, there are English-speaking doctors in Nicaragua. About 15% of the doctors here can speak perfect English and a lot of Nicaraguans, in general, do speak English.

 

There wouldn’t be a problem in finding an English-speaking doctor or dentist here. If you go to the high quality doctor offices, usually, you will find English-speaking doctors. Overall, a lot of people in Nicaragua who are in the medical field do speak English.

 

(Dr. Carlos Aleman, English-speaking dentist, Managua, Nicaragua, pictured.)

 

The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.

 

We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use...

The construction standards in Portugal have been very, very high for the past 500 years. We’re a country with a lot of history, so there’s a lot of palaces and castles around Portugal that have been at the same place without any refurbishment for the past 400 to 500 years. The Portuguese have a history of being very dedicated to quality when it comes to building and to the construction of buildings.

 

We do not use a lot of wood. Instead, we use a lot of stones and we use a lot of bricks, so the construction in Portugal is very, very solid.

 

In Portugal, we have a very traditional culture; we tend to stick to the past. The things that worked in the past, we still use them today. So therefore, houses built out of wood or pre-fabricated houses do not have success in Portugal, even though they are very good and very warm.

 

When Portuguese look for a house and they knock on the wall and if the house is made of wood, they will not buy it.  The Portuguese are really used to the thick walls that keep the heat within the house in winter and outside the house in the summer. For that reason we are really, really stuck with the old traditional ways of constructing houses.

 

The foundation of the house is the most important element of the building, and it’s the most expensive part of the building. We had an earthquake in 1755 in Portugal and just the coastal area was affected. The rest of the country didn’t have any other problems. So yes, for many years, we are very proud of the way we construct and build properties in our land.  

 

(Thick walled construction of centuries old Portuguese buildings, pictured.)